Dhaba style chicken curry

Dhaba pronounced as “Dha- bah” refers to roadside restaurants which are situated on highways. Dhaba’s are like a shed or a hut shaped building that has a center island. Underneath that center island are huge burners and huge utensils filled with local food is place over it to keep the food warm.

To welcome the city crowd they have a proper table setting with comfortable chairs an umbrellas on top to block the sun.Though they may not give you a restaurant style ambiance but their food is really really good. I traveled a lot with my dad on Delhi – Jodhpur highway and along the side of these highways are some great dhabas which are an embodiment of homely food.

REVISITED RECIPE – RECIPE IS THE SAME JUST BETTER PICTURES 🙂

Today’s recipe is pretty close to a dhaba style chicken curry. Very simple and easy to follow recipe, a great starting recipe for beginners. Chicken is sauteed in onion tomato masala and flavored with aromatic spices and that is what makes this dish is so delicious. If you don’t have onion tomato masala ready – no worries just follow the ingredient list and prepare some fresh masala. Once the onion-tomato masala is ready from there on the recipe is just assembling and boiling ingredients. The longer the gravy simmers, the smoother it will turn out to be. After adding water my gravy too thinned out but allowed it to simmer for 15 minutes and the consistency was perfect!

Like thick gravy/curry add less water and just remember if chicken curry is allowed to sit for a while, then gravy will thicken up. Can be prepared ahead of time and reheats pretty well. Enjoy it with hot Naanor Kulchas.

In a saucepan heat oil and add bay leaves, cumin seeds, cinnamon and moti elaichi to it. When they start to crackle add onion tomato masala and saute it for 3-4 minutes. When the oil starts to separate stir in the spices.

Mix well, added spices will not only release a great aroma it will also add dark red color to the gravy. Stir in the beaten curd. Adding curd will make you loose that rich red color for a while but don't worry it will come back again. Saute on a low flame till the curd blends in the gravy and the oil separates - dark rich color returns.

Time to move in the chicken pieces. Drop and mix well until they are coated with gravy.

Add water and give it a good stir. Gravy will become liquidy, no worries.

Cover and allow it to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is tender. And you will notice that the gravy has a smooth and thick consistency.

Hi Ruchi,
I tweaked this a bit- marinated the chicken overnight in yoghurt, cumin powder, cinnamon powder, turmeric and red chilli powder and they followed your instructions to the T. The end result was fantabolously awesome! Never had chicken like this before. Thanks for the recipe.
Cheers,
Frank

Picture really make a huge difference. I had passed this recipe many times but this time when I saw your clicks I was hooked on to it. Tried it over the weekend, hardly took any time. I prepared fresh masala and it taste yummy and served it with rice. Great recipes and happy me.

I am really delighted to glance at this website which contains lots of detailed recipes. Have tried your chicken curry recipe 3 or 4 times and every time it is a winner and a huge success. Update your picture and it will make the rounds. Simple and very tasty. Thanks for sharing Ruchi.